“Unique and joyful” FILMINK
See the mockumentary that literally mocks the film industry and itself in equal measures.
Australian Premiere
Melbourne Thursday the 1st February 7.30pm at the LIDO Cinemas Hawthorn
Adelaide Friday 16th February 7pm at the ODEON STAR Semaphore Cinemas
The third feature film by Saara Lamberg had its world premiere at the Cannes Cinephiles where it was Official Selection in May 2023. It has also been nominated for the Best Feature in Winchester Film Festival UK, Universal Film Festival USA, Blow-up Arthouse Film Fest Chicago USA and it has screened at the Festival Des Antipodes St Tropez and the Australian Embassy in Paris. Saara Lamberg has received a personal nomination for the Best Indie Director at the San Francisco International Screenplay Competition and Film Awards USA.
SAARA LAMBERG:
“The film is quirky and people laugh and they cry as they take the journey with me. I say with me, because I always attend all of the screenings the film has. It’s so important for me to be there as I don’t make films for myself, I make them for the audience and all screenings will have a Q&A at the end of the film.
“I want to live and breathe through the experience of the audience, this is the most rewarding part of filmmaking for me. Not that the shooting of this film wasn’t, I did it in New Caledonia, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain and in Australia both Melbourne and Adelaide. I fell on several red carpets on the way, one of those events made its way to the New Caledonian news. The results are rich visually and captivating performance wise, the audience never quite knows if they are watching a real story of my life or something fictional. I prefer to leave that mystery in.”
FILM SYNOPSIS:
Life imitates Art and Art imitates Life. An eccentric director on the rise travels to Cannes Film Festival, Berlin, German countryside, New Caledonia, Australia and England to create her latest art house film and has to negotiate many hurdles before finally fulfilling her vision. From promoters that try and make her sleep with the “right people”, to washed up stars that have ridiculous requests, from make up artists become coke dealers, to uninvited naked auditions, her artist’s path is never boring.
STARRING: Jane Badler, Judi Beecher, Xander Turian, Rhiannon Jorgensen, Samantha Greenwood, David Farrington
DIRECTOR BIO:
Finnish Australian Saara Lamberg is a director, actor, writer and producer. They have received several awards including the Best Film and Best Director at Influx Awards (California 2022), Best Film and Best Director at Veracruz World Film Awards (Mexico 2022), Best Film at the IFF (Milan 2018), the Best Film at the FAFF (Los Angeles 2017), Cinema Australia Audience Award (Melbourne 2017), Bronze prize at the Beverly Hills screenplay contest (Hollywood 2013), Best Actor at Comfy Shorts (Melbourne 2014), Best Drama at the Connect Film Festival (Melbourne 2014) and Best Actor (Lithuania 2004). They lived in England 2006-2010 and studied in the critically acclaimed Dartington College of Arts, graduating with a BA (HONS) degree in Theatre and Choreographic Practices in 2007. They moved to Melbourne in January 2010 and received a Distinguished Talent Permanent Residency in 2012 and citizenship in 2014. Innuendo was their first feature film, opening theatrically in Melbourne 2017 and broadcast nationally in Australian free to air television in 2019. Their second feature film Westermarck Effect was completed and released 2022 at the Cannes Cinephiles selection. Their third feature The Lies We Tell Ourselves was shot in various film festivals around the world and was fully improvised. Lamberg has two other features in production: Conversations with Spithead and COMA. In their personal life, Lamberg has struggled with tragedies such as losing their mother to early onset dementia and themselves facing breast cancer in their thirties. They are a board member and a host of Filmonik Melbourne (of the internationals Kino Movement) and Montsalvat Collective. Lamberg is known for their personal strength and courage, as well as extreme work ethic and friendly attitude on and off set.
